Newsletter Issue #463: 03 Aug 2014

Our newsletters are sent out once a fortnight and are displayed here for archival purposes only. Some of the content will be outdated and some layout issues may be present in the translation from email to the web. We recommend that you subscribe to our newsletter for the best results!

Welcome to August!

Welcome to August! It only felt like last week I finished writing the editorial for our last monthly newsletter. I don't know how Lisa (the force behind muzic.net.nz) managed with a fortnightly mailout!

The newsletter this month features an interview with yours truly, under the guise of my music project [amos/anon], as well as features from Dark Water and Shayna King. If your band has been up to something we always want to hear about it. You can feature in our monthly newsletter, and our dedicated reviewers are always happy to review your music. Just get in contact and we'll sort it all out for you.

In music news, voting has started for the New Zealand Music Awards. I'm picking Lorde as the one to walk away with a new collection of awards for her mantlepiece, and rightly so, though with the following Doprah have amassed over the past few months, they may give Lorde a run for her money for Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

Palmy pride prevails, and I'd like to see home boy Benny Tipene pick something up on the night. Known more as the winner of the X Factor, he's had a history of making great music here in Palmy long before that with The Nerines.

Speaking of Lorde, Facebook went crazy a couple of nights ago over the news she has been announced as the curator for the Hunger Games: Mockingjay soundtrack. Though not a fan of the film or book series personally, I see the honour behind such an announcement. I don't remember Facebook posts over the excitement of whoever organised the Twilight soundtrack.

That's all for this month. Keep checking our Facebook page for music news as it comes to hand, as well as more music news, reviews and interviews.

- Peter

Dark Water

Dark Water are a three piece Taranaki, alternative Rock band formed in 2009. Their first year together was spent developing their sound and style, which has developed into a gripping yet gritty sound with a heaviness that enfolds melody. Thanks to the band for answering the following questions:

Who are your role models in the NZ music industry?

Don’t really have any “role models” in the NZ industry, we have musicians and bands we like and admire, Peter Jefferies has had a long and colorful history both in NZ and abroad, he is very interesting to talk to and brain pick.

Which one of your songs are you most proud of, and why?

Overall we’re just proud of being able to produce these songs and that each one of us are on the same creative page to do that, but in particular Merran enjoys Harmonic Tinker Toys for its super fun bass line and another song called A Murder of Crows which is a track that we all feel embodies our new sound since becoming a 3 piece.

Do you have any plans for future collaborations with other musicians? Who would they be?

Nothing planned but wouldn’t rule it out; one thing that would be really cool would be to collaborate with a symphony orchestra, now that’d be something else :)

Where is your favourite place to relax in NZ?

Home. New Plymouth is an awesome place to relax, whether it be down by the ocean, lost in a bush or scaling the mountain.

What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?

Anyone who’s doing something different. We’ve had the pleasure of playing with Decortica, they not only have an incredible sound but they also do things independently which we can relate to, and have a great understanding of their audience and where they are as a band (and if they don’t they give the impression they do :)) and they’re good dudes.

Liam Finn is another NZ artist who has a unique and quirky style that appeals, really like Cairo Knife Fight they have a real cool sound and Jakob are choice, love that ambient texturing they do and also Husk we saw them open for The Datsuns and they were good.

Just anything that’s outside of the square really.

What is the one thing you want NZ to know about Dark Water?

That we exist but ideally we’d like to be known for our sound and originality. To make original music is essentially contributing to music as a whole, and to be recognized for that would be cool.

How would you describe Dark Water’s music in one sentence?

Melodically Alternative Rock or M.A.R :)

What has been your most memorable show to date?

We’ve done a lot of shows and to pin one down would be difficult, but the ones that stand out for us are the ones where we’ve had an awesome sound and a good responsive crowd, whether it be opening for a big band or playing in a hall or small town.

What local albums have you been enjoying recently?

Local albums? The only local albums as in from New Plymouth of late would really be Rival State and Sticky Filth’s album.

What is Dark Water’s long term goal?

To keep loving what we do, progress and improve.

What sets you apart from other bands?

What sets us apart from other bands? We don’t really worry about stuff like that; we just concentrate on what we’re doing musically, artistically and creatively.

Where do you get your inspiration to create music from?

Through art, film, music, life experience, Inspiration is everywhere and nowhere. Inspiration is overrated haha I’m not saying that we don’t get inspired; we just don’t wait for inspiration to occur, though when it does its great. So what inspires us? Everything and nothing.

What can we expect to see from Dark Water over the next year?

We’ve just finished our EP, which is the stepping-stone to the album, so, getting the album released, doing a music video & touring (near & far).

What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?

Just keep doing it and do it because you love it, have no expectations and embrace failure, because anyone who creates something, art, music, film ect will always run into multiple “No’s” you cant please everyone but you can be true to yourself and your art, just keep perservering.

Tell us about Dark Water’s next release.

We’re releasing an EP on August 16, 2014 at the Mayfair in New Plymouth, which is the prelude to our album, we’re looking forward to it as we’re introducing another dynamic by way of visuals projected behind us and merch, every T-shirt is hand painted, so very limited.

What can you never leave home without?

Shit, I have trouble remembering what I should be taking with me; let alone what I should never leave home without :)

What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?

This probably stems from the last question, forgetting your instrument, thats probably up there on the feeling stink list, we won't point fingers :)

What inspired you to start Dark Water? /How did you come up with the name Dark Water?

It kind of just manifested itself from playing with different people.

I was in a band when I lived in Europe (early 2000’s) it was probably my first real band and when I left to come home I wanted to continue doing that, so I used my last name as a band name which translates into Dark Water and the name just kind of stuck and we continued to use it

What rumour would you like to start about Dark Water?

That Justin Beiber is my gay lover? We opened for Benny Hinn ministries; Monty Burns bank rolled our album? Haha rumours, one letter away from humour yeah, don’t let the truth get in the way of a good yarn, right? :)

Website Links

Amos/Anon

One of muzic.net.nz's reviewers, and the editorialist for this newsletter, is Peter-James Dries a.k.a Amos/Anon. The music, variously described as Progressive Doom Metal and Gothic Industrial, is dark, haunting and brooding. Thanks to Peter for answering the following questions:

What has [amos/anon] been doing recently?

I’ve been working on a requiem of sorts, for my brother, who sadly passed over Christmas. It’s hard work confronting emotions I’ve been trying to avoid, so I took some time away from that material and put together a collection of acoustic tracks and made a couple of videos for them.

Tell us a little about your latest release.

Gothique Doesn’t Exist is mostly acoustic versions of older songs, recorded in hindsight, but there are also a couple that were written or recorded when I was supposed to be working on the heavier album, or that didn’t fit with the story or theme of the other acoustic albums.

There’s no back story, or narrative or theme like our other releases, unless you look at it as five snapshots from various stages of my life over the past four years.

How did you come up with the title?

The name of the collection references the first [amos/anon] release, 2006’s Gothique. It’s a testimony to how much our sound has developed since the start of the [amos/anon] project.

What was your motivation for releasing this EP?

I felt that these songs deserved their own release as opposed to being relegated to Post Scripts and hidden tracks.

Also this art project, that is [amos/anon], is therapeutic, and part of that is releasing my babies, these songs I’ve been holding on to for so long, out into the wild to be either ripped apart by wolves, or worse, neglected by the apathetic.

What’s next for [amos/anon]?

I hope to finish the album for my brother soon, and then I’ll be back into the idiosyncratic sequence of alternating between a heavier and an acoustic album.

Website Links

Shayna King

Alt. singer-songwriter Shayna King’s new single Calling You is set for release this August. Straight off the back of a nationwide tour and following the release of her critically acclaimed debut album, the new single shows a mature and developed side to King’s songwriting, inspired by her personal journey of “stepping out of your comfort zone to follow your passion.”

With a voice described as a “stunning mix between soft and powerful” and top live/album reviews under her belt, this next installment also shows King’s side as a producer, having been self-produced alongside co-producer and engineer Nick Poortman at Christchurch’s Quicksand Recording Studio. Thanks to Shayna for answering the following questions:

Which one of your songs are you most proud of, and why?

My new single Calling You, to be released 18th August. Being co-producer I really felt I could be very free creatively with this project. The song is also a personal reminder that you are in control of your own happiness. It’s an inspirational song lyrically, with an uplifting and catchy melody. Pretty proud of it!

How would you describe your music in one sentence?

Evolving.

What has been your most memorable show to date?

The first show of my New Zealand Tour where we had an unexpected almost full capacity and strangers singing along to the songs. It was an amazing feeling knowing the hard work had paid off.

Website Links

NZ Music News

Devilskin Golden Chart Success

Devilskin remain as the #1 Album and #1 Kiwi Artist Album for the second week in a row.

NZ rock band Devilskin’s much anticipated debut album We Rise released on July 11 and went straight to the top of the charts, the strong album sales have maintained momentum and the local band has held strong against fierce international and local competition. This ongoing success is a real coup for the independently released and distributed album.

The band are going from strength to strength with We Rise achieving Gold after only 2 weeks. Gold Certifications are awarded on the basis of wholesale sales to retailers – with the total album sales exceeding 7,500 albums.

HeadChef wins the July Wildcard Chart on theaudience.co.nz

July 2014 turned out to be one of the closest contests ever on theaudience.co.nz’s Wildcard Funding Chart. It was back and forth, with the lead traded throughout the final days of the competition, but in the end, HeadChef had enough to see themselves take down the Making Tracks Wildcard Funding with their song Think Of Me, just pipping the Rory Noble produced track Put It Down.

Speaking to theaudience.co.nz after their win, HeadChef were delighted. "It's such a relief to come out on top especially after such a close competition, the last few days especially have been very tense and we're all so stoked with the outcome." Like always on the Wildcard Chart, it was the fans and friends of the band that helped them take out the number one spot. "We've had so much support from friends, family and even our school, (Wellington High School) it's been crazy."

Impressive Cadre of local musicians gather together for fallen comrade

A group of Kiwi musicians are raising their sticks to get one of their own back behind the skins.

Jonothan Wilson is the original little drummer boy. Dude’s been killing the skins since he was tall enough to pound a snare. And he’s good. Real good. In fact, if you’re a Kiwi muso, he’s the guy you call for a beat. Jono’s been the smiling backbone of too many bands to count.

He’s the happiest guy in showbiz. His face lights up the stage like a human L.E.D – Jono’s the midas of breakbeats. Everything he touches turns to gold.

But here’s the bummer. A few months ago, Jono and his beautiful wife were in a pretty bad crash. Our guy was pretty badly injured. He spent weeks in a coma with severe brain trauma. Although he’s awake now and banging that hospital bed like ballin’ John Bonham, he’s got a long recovery ahead of him.

More Content on muzic.net.nz

Google Site Search

Custom Search

100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.Report A Problem